Brainwashed by fear: How to save 2 generations lost to climate panic

For more than four decades, Americans have been subjected to a relentless drumbeat of environmental doom. They have been terrified by warnings of acid rain, the ozone hole, melting ice caps, drowned coastal cities, superstorms and mass extinctions. Then came Al Gore and increasingly apocalyptic warnings about global warming, which has since been rebranded as “climate change.”

Today, we can see the consequences. Two generations of young people have been taught not to respect the environment, but rather to fear the future.

The numbers are disturbing. A Lancet Planetary Health survey of 15,793 Americans ages 16 to 25 found that 85 percent were at least moderately worried about climate change, including 58 percent who were very or extremely worried. More than half said climate change made them hesitant to have children.

Other research points the same way. A review of multiple studies found that stronger climate worry lines up with wanting fewer children or none at all.

Think about that. We have convinced millions of young people that the future is so bleak that they should reconsider having children.

Yet the picture of a dying planet bears little resemblance to the measurable world around us.

The Earth is getting greener. NASA reported that 25 to 50 percent of the world’s vegetated land greened........

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